This research explores the notions of national identity and of the rhetorical figure of the allegory. It also questions the materiality and the specificity of literature and cinema.
In the first part of this research, we will define the notion of allegory and the concept of national allegory. In the second part, inspired by the story of Iracema, we will analyze two specific works that narrate singularly the encounter between a native and a white man. The first work, Iracema : lenda do Ceará (1865) is by José de Alencar, a well-known mid-nineteenth century Brazilian author. In this novel, the author tries to construct a Brazilian identity by allegorically and fictionally binding together social differences. The second work, Iracema : uma transa amazônica (1974) by Orlando Senna and Jorge Bodansky is a contemporary version of the story, depicting the limits and contradiction of the concept of national identity. Filmed during the dictatorship, this film displays the people who are excluded and marginalized from the project of Brazilian identity. With Bodansky and Senna’s work positioned in an ambiguous position between documentary and fiction, we will question the resistance exhibited by documentary images to the allegorical construction of the nation.